Rating: 
Summary: More useful than the Bible.....
Review: This is not a feel good book, by any means. But it is something that needs to be read, for it has many uses(weither they be personal or global)I would hope that all have some interest in how things came to be as they are today, and this book sheds more light on this subject than any other I have ever read(including the Bible). The most enlightening aspect of the book is it gives you the questions and answers to things that you normally would not even consider. This is done very effectively through the unbiased eyes of Ishmael.
Rating:
Summary: Quinn answers the questions you had from Ishmael!
Review: My Ishmael is a better novel than Ishmael, but not as good of a book. Ishmael was nothing short of life-changing; the revelations of My Ishmael are significant, but less of a surprise. Quinn's The Story of B was a tremendous disappointment because it did little more than retell Ishmael, and in a somewhat heavy-handed manner. In My Ishmael, Quinn spends little time refashioning the morals of the first book. Instead he focuses on addressing the misconceptions that many readers had of Ishmael (e.g., that he is anti-technology, that the answer is to revert back to the Stone Age). In short, Quinn answers the incessant question asked of him, "What can I do?"
Why do I only give it a 9? Minor qualms like the unrealistic depiction of the 12-year-old narrator who seems more like a 30 year old than anything else.
On the other hand, bravo to Quinn for writing a story that intertwines so neatly with the original, a concept he didn't originally intend.
Rating:
Summary: What more can be said?
Review: Daniel Quinn has succeeded once again at capturing the heart of humanity and bringing forth the insight for the future. This book floods the head with vision and quest and makes a plea for change in the world. Read it only if you care about what is going on in the world. Be prepared to scream with personal frustration and the desire to tell the world to wake up.
Rating:
Summary: Another wonderful page-turner from Daniel Quinn
Review: In the spirit of Ishmael, My Ishmael explores some old philosophies (Takers/Leavers) and some new ones (control of the food supply, the educational system, and the government). If you enjoyed Ishmael, you'll love My Ishamel as well. If you didn't, well I guess you're still not ready to open your mind to new possibilities, so don't bother. My Ishmael is every bit the page-turner Ishmael is. DON'T pick it up unless you're ready to read the whole thing before putting it down.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked Ishmael, you will love My Ishmael!
Review: This is the "official" sequel to Ishmael. Basically, it is Ishmael revisited by a twelve-year-old girl. Although the first fifty pages of the book will bore you to tears if you have read the first novel, it deals with different issues and is definitely worth reading. Two main problems are covered in this volume. First, Quinn asks a very pertinent question: Why do we have to work hard eight hours a day, five days a week? Has it always been that way? The answer is a sounding "NO!" Many people are not satisfied with their life because of a job they don't really like. Just ask people you know if they would stop working if they won one million dollars. I'm sure most of them will say "yes, of course, my job is not fulfilling, I'd rather do something else!" But, still,they go to work every day just because they don't have the choice: no job means no money, which means no food. However, Quinn points out that it was not like that before food was put "under lock and key." That is, in ancestral cultures, you just had to go grab the food you needed where you knew you could find it. At one point in our culture, however, we produced so much food with agriculture that we needed to store it, thus leading to a new class of people: those who did not work in the field anymore as they had to manage the way food was stored. These people found that life was easier that way, and they soon realized that as long as they were in control of the food distribution, they could take it easy by letting the others work hard. And to protect this new "gold mine" they hired guards, who thus also had the priviledge not to work hard as long as they kept the food away from those who worked for it. And this is what led us to the way things are now: a large class of working people who spend many hours a day in an environment they despise, and a small class of priviledge people who have a much eaiser and enjoyable life. The second point of the book is the one of education. Have you ever wondered why you spent so many years of you life in school? Do you ever use just a tenth of what you've learned? Did not it bore you to death to go over the same things, over and over again? What our cultural myths tell us is that this is necessary in a competitive society like ours to learn about many things, and that repeating the materials is necessary for students to master everything, as they don't seem to get it the first go around. Quinn first explains why our education really takes that long, and then claims that if students cannot learn the materials properly it is because it is not meaningful to them. In ancestral cultures there is no formal education, but it is fair to say that tribal children know much more about life than "civilized" ones. Indeed, the education of the former kids is made in context, just by observing what adults do. However, in our cultures we are totally separated from the real world and thus we do not make the necessary connections to really master anything. Meaningfulness of what we learn is the essential thing we are missing; let's change this!
Rating:
Summary: How to break out of your prison
Review: Daniel Quinn has finally found the proper target with his "concurrent sequel" to his rightfully popular "Ishmael." Ishmael, a mountain gorilla, enters into telepathic dialogues with his students. In this book, Ishmael's student is a twelve year old girl. The adult mindsets and idealism Ishmael dealt with in the previous book are replaced by a cynical, street-wise young adult. Julie, who is as close to an orphan as you can get and still have a resident parent, is inspired by the newspaper advert: "Teacher seeking pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world." Although she hasn't a clue how to accomplish that desire, she feels compelled to give it a go.If you've read "Ishmael," don't assume this book is redundant. Ishmael himself is reluctant to teach one so young. After all, what could a 12-year-old accomplish? Any reader of this volume might entertain the same doubts, but Quinn's adept talent has Ishmael query Julie on what she believes and why. He's patient [unlike most adults with children] and his "teaching" is, in reality a means to make Julie examine her beliefs. Ishmael is able couch his questions in terms Julie can understand. Step by step, Ishmael prods Julie into greater awareness of that world she desires to save. In the beginning, of course, she doesn't even know what's wrong with the world. Her vague disquiet is given focus as Ishmael's questions prod her thinking. Julie becomes aware that the basic tactic of civilization is to "lock up the food." From this situation everything else that circumscribes our lives follows. Working for wages, a hierarchical society, religion and other trappings of "culture" that bind our existence. Ishmael shows what an innovation in human experience this tactic is, and how recently imposed. Locking up the food and creating a structured society, according to Ishmael, has led to an immensely powerful Mother Culture. Mother Culture lays down and enforces the rules of society. She's created a prison, which will require re-thinking about culture in order for us, the prisoners, to escape. Not all societies, however, subscribe to these rules. Mother Culture has created the Taker society, while those remaining outside her domain, Ishmael dubs the Leavers. The division is nearly absolute, with the Takers striving to take all, while the Leavers have survived by leaving what they don't need. Quinn assures us that the separation is neither inevitable nor absolute. But changes in outlook are necessary if the Takers are not to destroy the planet. Quinn's excellent style keeps a "message" book from becoming a "preaching" book. That's no small accomplishment, given the immensity of the task. He reassures us that he understands the Taker society will not revert to a pure Leaver culture. In order to survive, however, it will be necessary for the Takers to "talk to their neighbours." Not just the folks next door, but all the rest of life. This is not a reversion to a simpler life, but an expansion of knowledge and understanding. It's hardly a drastic step, but it hasn't been taken. My Ishmael encourages you to take that first step. A better world is certain to follow, since that first step must inevitably lead to others. Buy this book for your children or even your neighbour's children. It may be too late for older folks to learn the lessons, but it's their world starting tomorrow.
Rating: 
Summary: Daniel Quinn has taken leave of his senses on this one.
Review: As much as I hate to admit it, Daniel Quinn has not succeeded at his most recent attempt to "save the world" . In his efforts to write a compelling story, he focuses far too much attention to the details of the story itself and leaves many of his ideas without support. It's one thing to denounce organized education as we know it, however, to substantiate this claim by saying that " for thousands of years before schools people had been reading..." is simply preposterous. You don't need a degree in anthropology to know that until quite recently actually, most of the world was not literate. Perhaps the author meant to say that in tribal cultures reading was and is less NECESSARY ? Another example of an unsupported argument in the book is Quinn's use of contemporary gangs and cults as paradigms of functional tribal systems. While these groups meet some of the criteria for so- called tribal communities, the fact that these societies are overwhelmingly destructive to many of the individuals they serve makes them antithetical in nature to the possibility of an harmonious world. I loved Ishmael and The Story of B and found the ideas therein to be both challenging and intelligent. This sequel, however, is just not up to par.
Rating: 
Summary: Now I know why...
Review: This book makes you think, makes you think a lot. I enjoyed this book, even though it started out slow and was sometimes hard to swallow... a 12/13 year old girl (regardless of her parentage) going on a trip 'by herself' arranged by people she didn't know... other than an ape. But if you put the ape thing aside, this book is quite good, and like I said... makes you think about cultures and why things are done the way they are done... and know, that it is not too late.
Rating:
Summary: Reaching Out to the Youth
Review: My Ishmael is another thought-provoking look at our destructive lives. The difference between "My Ishmael" and the other books in the series, though, is that Quinn offers insightful solutions. The use of a 12 year old girl offers a completely different take on the situation than Quinn has ever gone down. It was a good path to take, though. It is more important for the youth of the world to read Quinn's books than it is for adults. In my experience, adults who have read Quinn's books do not like them; they either don't see a problem, or they take his criticism personally. All of the young people I have spoken to have liked the book, though, because it is a real and present danger for us. Quinn's use of the curious young girl as the main character brings the book down to a younger level. It is still excellent to read as an adult, but compared to the other books in the series, it really reaches out and makes sense to young people. Instead of the stuffy lecturing of "The Story of B" or the contemplative learning style of "Ishmael" this book is fresh and upbeat. I recommend it to everyone I speak to, and I think it should be required reading for high schoolers everywhere.
Rating:
Summary: Innovative but insulting
Review: As Literature with a capital L, folks, this is as bad as it gets. The writing is irredeemably sloppy and weak. An amateurish, self-indulgent ramble. The characters are flat and unbelievable, especially Julie, a 12-year-old with wisdom and insight beyond even the most gifted pre-adolescent, not to mention an absurdly mature vocabulary, who (we are asked to believe) is allowed to conduct a mission overseas that is just plain silly. No matter: character is not her real function in the novel. Her job is to pat the preachy telepathic ape on the back. Ishmael proclaims himself a "maieutic" teacher, a midwife who claims to bring enlightenment to his pupils by helping them to uncover for themselves truths that already lie within them, a la Socrates. But then he goes on to tell and preach, preach and tell, and talk and talk and talk ad nauseum and in redundant circles!!! There's nothing maieutic about it! ...but, of course, this is really just Quinn himself talking, up on his soapbox. The ape and author are one, and the only other character is a 12-year-old whose sole function is to respond to his sermons with "Gosh, Ishmael (Quinn), that's really deep!" and "Wow, Ishmael (Quinn), you sure are smart! How'd you ever come up with these AMAZING ideas, Ishmael (Quinn)?!" ...shameless, self-congratulatory goop. Gimme a break.
And did I mention? The writing is really bad. Really.
It isn't that the novel doesn't harbor a few provocative questions, worth thinking on, penetrating, and discussing. I'm both a teacher and an environmentalist (in fact, I teach environmental science), and there are important issues raised here about human consumption, modern culture, sustainability, and public education (although the notion that schooling is a conspiracy to keep young folks out of the workforce is just laughable...). But Quinn doesn't penetrate these questions with much depth, nor does he tackle their complexities. He skirts around many of the tough questions (I kept thinking "cop out... cop out..."). It's pseudoprofound - the sort of shallow philosophizing I read 20 years ago in Bach's Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions ...yuck.
Finally, I was eager and hopeful when I read in the forward Quinn's acknowledgement that many of the novel's ideas are extensions of Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene. But believe me, he screwed even that up. If you want to read a REAL thinker and a REAL writer, spend your money on Dawkins instead.
|
